The Clear Northern Sky
by Galaxy14
Summary: Aria and her brother Rylan are the king and queen of Narnia. The White Witch has returned and a war is coming.
1. Chapter 1: Betrayal

Two people stood at the center of a softly lit room in the castle of Cair Paravel. One was a tall young man about seventeen years old, he had the stature of a brave king. He was dressed in admirable clothes, and had a crown of gold atop his head. The crown was adorned with vibrantly colored jewels and at the center lay the coat of arms of the Narnian people. The boys hair fell in short ringlets of pitch black just above his deep brown eyes. What he seemed to be was true, that boy, was the king of Narnia, and my brother. King Rylan of the Southern Sun.

The other person in that room was myself. Queen Aria of the Northern Sky. Queen of Narnia, I ruled alongside my brother up until this point in our lives. We were just beginning to argue about who was to take charge of the kingdom while Aslan was away. Yes, Aslan himself helped rule his country with us, I was beginning to think it was because he didn't trust us. But he had all rights to not trust us with his whole kingdom. We were just kids. Rylan is seventeen and I am only sixteen. No one can assume that two teens can run a whole country. Anyway, we were bickering about how and who should rule the whole of Narnia. Rylan insisted that he was more mature and that he was more charismatic so the people would accede to him more easily than to me. But then I made my argument.

"Rylan, you and I both know who does and who doesn't trust us. Aslan doesn't want us to split the kingdom in two. So I conclude that we should go on ruling 'together' and just leave it at that," I say to him firmly. Just as I turn my gaze to his lightning flashes from outside and thunder booms off in the distance.

"Aria, I believe what I say. And I say that I should rule, and you should step down."

"Fine, but you are no longer my king. Nor my brother. Goodbye Rylan," I say in a bitter tone as I tear my gaze from him and make my way out of the room.

Once to my room I begin to pack my things. While I grab my pack a shrill cry of a bird sounds from outside. I make my way to the window and I can just make out a silhouette of a raven circling near the top spire of Cair Paravel. The raven dives down and lands on my window sill. "How are you today Swallowpad? Hope the storm hasn't made flying too difficult," I inquire.

"Oh no no, flying has been fine my queen. But I wonder, where are you going at this late hour?"

"I'm going away. Anywhere but here. Rylan has betrayed me. He's trying to take over the whole kingdom, even against Aslan's orders he still tries to do it. How bothersome is that?" I mutter as I continue to pack my things. At last I grab my cloak which is a faded forest green color and wrap it around myself. "Would you like to come with me Swallowpad?"

"Oh yes, yes miss. Someone has to look after you m'lady."

Once in the stables near the courtyard of the palace I search for my horse. Although he isn't really a horse, I like to keep it simple. My horse is actually a unicorn and his name is Jewel. Jewel's coat is pure white and it almost gleams even in the dark of the night. I saddle him up, and he doesn't make a sound as I do. After minutes of silence Swallowpad finally speaks up. "Where exactly are you planning to go Miss Aria?"

"At this moment I'm planning to head to Anvard in Archenland and then to the Castle of Telmar from there to seek help from their king. If Rylan keeps going on about power it will consume him and everything will start crumbling to the ground and there will be nothing left of Narnia." I swing myself up onto Jewel's back and pull the hood of my cloak up to conceal my face from any unwanted stranger, but my long braid trails down the side.

"But m'lady... You have to cross the mountains and go through the Western Wood to get to Telmar," Swallowpad replies in his whining voice. It's almost as if he doesn't want me to go.

"Swallowpad, I'm not saying you have to come. You can stay here and be ruled by a self-centered king. Or you can come with me and help liberate the poor souls of the Narnian people."

"I'll come," he grumbled, "but only if you let me rest on your shoulder when my wings start to ache."

"Deal."

Jewel, Swallowpad and I made our way out the gates of Cair Paravel just over an hour ago. The guards were not quite as easy to get past as I had planned but we made it. Most importantly we made it past without any one of them noticing who I am. At this moment I had Jewel cantering at a steady pace across a vast plain. Swallowpad flew over and ahead of us at a constant pace, his figure was just a faint silhouette in the brightening sky.

The forest came upon us sooner than I thought. We had left Cair Paravel, the river and the ocean behind us and we were about to make the journey of our lives to help save the people of Narnia. The closer we got the the brink of the forest the more I could hear the gentle hum of the naiads and the tree spirits talking to each other. Off in the distance I could see the faint light of Aravir, the morning star. Aravir's light used to be so much more brighter when you saw it from the cliffs that the castle of Cair Paravel stood on. But from near the edge of the forest it was just another light.

Swallowpad, Jewel and I needed to sleep soon but I urged Jewel onward. "Come on Jewel, just a few more minutes and I'll find a good place to camp."

I fulfilled my promise thirty minutes later after we happened across a small clearing. Unstrapped my bag and blanket from Jewel and let him roam around until he fell asleep. Then Swallowpad landed beside me on a tree root, he cawed and looked at me with his golden eyes. "Queen Aria. Do you still think this is a good idea?"

"Of course I think it's a good idea. The whole of Narnia's population is in the balance here... Now go to sleep Swallowpad. We have a lot of traveling to do tomorrow," I reply to him as I wrap myself in the blanket and start to fall asleep.

_I stood in the clearing alone. Nothing was around me but the coolness of the morning air and the murmuring of the tree spirits. "Hello? Is anyone here?" I ask to the forest._

_ Many voices answer mine, the voices are a soft chorus of lines that I cannot quite make out. It seems like the voices are whispering. A poem? A prophecy? They continue and as they do their voices become louder and clearer. I only hear the last line, and by that time there are tiny pink cherry blossom petals drifting around me on the light wind. "You will save yourself, and your people."_

My eyes fly open as I awaken immediately from my dream. I glance around to see if I'm still in the general area I set camp last night. To my surprise, I was. Unharmed and unmoved, and thank Aslan because if something happened I doubt I would ever see daylight again. Just as I look into the trees a shrill voice calls out to me, "how was your sleep m'lady?"

"Good... quite good Swallowpad. And yours?"

"Not as good as yours seems to be. I tried to wake you to keep watch the second half of the night, but you refused to open your eyes. You were much too tired," Swallowpad replies to me cawing out a bout of laughter afterwards. "I don't even think a Minotaur could have woken you."

"Oh hush up Swallowpad," I mutter as I get to my feet and begin to clean out our little campsite. A few minutes later the whole site is cleaned up and I swing myself up onto Jewel. "Let's go, we have to be at Anvard within two days time."

And so we went. I encouraged Jewel to go at a steady canter as Swallowpad flies overhead in the clear skies.


	2. Chapter 2: Across the River

Around noontime Swallowpad still flew overhead. A few minutes ago he swooped down and landed on my shoulder, he hold me that he was going off to find some food and a nice shelter for tonight. "It's just you and me now Jewel," I mutter as I look around. Directly in front of me I can see the Rush River. From the river Jewel, Swallowpad and I will begin to head south and cross the Glasswater Creek and then go across the mountains to Anvard. The closer I get to the river the clearer the sound of the rushing water flowing down to the Eastern Ocean.

I lead Jewel up the the shore of the river. The pounding of the water is as loud as it can be and I can't seem to think straight. I slide off of Jewel's back and take the saddlepack from him. "Jewel, you find your own way across. I'll meet you on the other side okay?"

Jewel whinnies then trots off upstream where the waters could possibly be calmer and safer to cross. I fasten the saddlepack over my shoulders and begin to wade into the waters. As soon as I get past my ankles the bitterly cold water cut straight threw my clothes and ate at my skin. I couldn't bear to think of how I could make my way through the river but I kept going anyway. The arctic chilled waters slowly rise to my shoulders and I begin to make my way through the river without the use of the riverbottom. Directly in the middle there is a sharp tug from below, I feel myself being sucked underneath the surface. Before I could slip all the way under I saw a splash, but that didn't matter. All color drained from the world and I was left with blacks, greys and whites. Then, nothing. I fell into the dark void of unconsciousness and my body floated lifelessly through the icy water.

...

My mind was foggy and even sitting beside a fire my body wasn't warm. I was just beginning to wake up when I remembered what happened in the river. I never managed to swim out of it. The last thing I remember were strong arms grabbing me around the waist and swimming toward the surface. Someone had saved me.

I had woken up enough to open my eyes and try sitting up. But as I was, my efforts were stopped by the warm touch of my rescuer. I heard my rescuers voice for the first time right then. "Now now, Aria, you have to stay down, or you won't heal fully." The voice was one of a strong young man about my age, so maybe seventeen. But what surprised me the most was how he knew my name. I opened my mouth to ask him but it was as if he could hear my thoughts. "I known you since you were little Aria. But I don't suppose you remember, I'm Trevor," the boy said to me.

"Since I was little? You talk about it like you were older back then but you're only like, what? Seventeen?" I reply to him, managing to find my voice right away.

"Well no, I'm not exactly seventeen. But if you'd like to know, I was your protector but the royal court said you didn't need one. But I kept my eye on you anyway."

"So you're a stalker," I say bluntly. I manage to turn myself away from him, while ignoring the slight pressure on my head. I raise my hand but Trevor quickly grabs at my wrist to stop me from touching the spot on my head.

"I wouldn't do that Aria."

"Why shouldn't I? It's my head," I reply sourly, getting more and more annoyed by his constant presence.

"Well, after you went unconscious, you went under and kind of hit your head on a rock. And you quite possibly could've died if I hadn't jumped in after you from blood loss." Trevor's voice was played out in a flat but amused voice, which only made me more frustrated. Frankly, I didn't want to be indebted to him because he saved my life.

And yet again, it was like he was reading my thoughts. "Oh I don't play that game miss Aria. Saving a persons life just once is no fun. I play by the rule of three."

"Rule of three? What in the world is that?" I ask as I struggle to stand.

"I'm surprised you haven't heard of it 'queen' Aria. The rule of three is exactly that. If you save someone's life three times they are foever bound to the person who saved them," Trevor says with a cocky smile. "And you'll be forever indebted to me if I have to save your life twice more."

"Oh I don't think so Mr. Trevor. I just met you and I want to leave. Now. How long exactly have I been here?"

"Just a day. You fell in the river yesterday just past high noon. And if you're going anywhere I'm coming with you because your wound still needs to heal," Trevor replies, his tone becomes hard and serious.

"Okay, fine. You win. Happy?" I mutter getting quite annoyed. "By the way, did you ever find my horse?"

"I didn't have to find him Aria. He came searching for you, and in the process almost trampled me when I was stitching your head," he said remembering the scene.

"That's good. It's nice to know Jewel dislikes you as much as I do," I say as I finally get to my feet and stumble over to where Jewel is tethered. Again, Trevor follows me as I stand beside Jewel. "Didn't I tell you to go away a few minutes ago?" Trevor shakes his head happlily. "Then go away!"

"But I have to-"

"No! You don't have to do anything! I don't know you nor do I want to," I say firmly, while staring straight at him. I scramble to get onto Jewel, I know I looked like a fool but I finally got steadied. "Come on Jewel, lets get away from this lunatic."

I pulled on Jewel's reins and he whirled around then he began to trot away from where I left Trevor. Looking back at him, he had his mouth wide open. "Hey nutcase! Close your mouth, or you'll catch bugs!"

To my surprise he actually listened, he closed his mouth abruptly then turned around and rushed around the camp cleaning up his things and stuffing things onto his pack. I needed to get away, and fast. Because, it's quite easy to find someone on a white horse in the middle of a forest during the fall. "Jewel, come on we gotta go faster!" He obeys and begins to do a steady canter, while weaving through the trees.

"ARIA! You can't go alone! You don't even know where you are!" It's Trevor. How in the world is he following me? And why? I've done perfectly fine on my own until now. Jewel breaks into a run, he feels my panic. My panic to get away from Trevor. Just as we make our way past a small hill a very big pitch black horse comes out of nowhere. It scares the heck out of Jewel and I. Jewel rears up and throws his head back whinnying very loudly. I fall off Jewel's back and just manage to roll out of the way before his hooves can crush any of my bones. "Jewel, calm down!" Trevor says as he jumps down off his horse and holds his hands up, this motion instantly calms Jewel down. Trevor runs over to me right after he tethered Jewel to a nearby tree. "Are you okay?"

I don't answer him as I curl up on the leafy ground. My hands are on my head. I possibly landed on my hands to break my fall but hit my head on something quite hard. Trevor gently put his arms around me. One beneath my knees and one behind my back. He lifted me up and hoisted me onto his horses back then climbed on behind me. "My horse, her name is Thunder. Now Aria, please. You have to rest." But I didn't have to listen to his words. I was already asleep before he could finish.

Trevor then untied Jewels reins, he tired a rope onto the reins and had Jewel follow along behind Thunder as we started off. Trevor made his way out of the forest and headed across a dull grassy plain as his arms were wrapped around my waist to keep me from falling. My head bobbed along with the rhythm of Thunder's pounding hooves as I dreamed about times of peace and harmony.


End file.
